A Year After Brain-Injury, Parents Hold on to Hope

Leila-Bui.jpg

(Vancouver Sun) – Tuan Bui gently lifts his daughter Leila from her wheelchair into her hospital-style bed. Her room is alive with pastel-coloured stuffed animals and hand-drawn cards that marked her 12th birthday on Dec. 6.

Her eyes remain closed and her heart-shaped mouth is slightly parted as her father whispers in her ear: “OK sweetheart, I’m going to move you to your bed now.”

After a nurse does stretches with Leila, Tuan and his wife, Kairry, will take Leila to Torquay Elementary school, where her younger siblings, six-year-old Jace and nine-year-old Myla, will perform a Christmas concert.

It’s difficult to know Leila’s level of awareness, but her parents believe the concert will be stimulating for Leila, who always loved classical music. CONTINUE